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Hosts picked up 65 for 5 to dismiss Australia for 416 after Smith 110 and are only 138 behind

Vithushan Ehantharajah29-Jun-2023You cannot win a Test match in an hour’s play on day two. Nor can you lose it. But as observers at Lord’s on Thursday can now attest to, you can certainly loosen your grip on proceedings much to the relief of your opponents, as England did.A collapse of 34 for 3 in 7.3 overs saw the hosts cede control of the first innings of this second Test. Having dismissed Australia outright for 416, taking the final five wickets for the addition of just 65 runs, England conspired amongst themselves to turn 188 for one into 222 for 4.This was far from terminal. Stumps arrived with no further losses, Harry Brook unbeaten on a flighty 45 and Ben Stokes playing the part of the adult in the room with a measured 17 not out off 57. Australia’s lead is now just 138.The unnecessary cascade was layered. Steven Smith had “only” made it to 110 for his 32nd Test hundred, four years after a bumper double on this very ground. Midway through the 37th over of England’s response, Nathan Lyon pulled up with a calf injury that will be assessed overnight but almost certainly rules him out of bowling in the rest of this match. And to have lost a dynamic trio of Ollie Pope, Ben Duckett and Joe Root – all to the hook shot – felt deeply unnecessary from England, especially with a tail elongated by the presence of Josh Tongue as the extra seamer.Related

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Tongue, though, has been far from an inconvenience. He justified selection as the best on show on Wednesday with the wickets of openers Usman Khawaja and David Warner, and then prised out Smith on Thursday morning. An attempt to drive the seamer on the up was caught superbly by Duckett at gully. It was the second time this summer the Worcestershire quick has seen off the 34-year-old following an lbw decision in his favour when Smith was moonlighting as Sussex’s overseas player in May.Stuart Broad was the first to strike, trapping Alex Carey leg before, only confirmed with a DRS review at his insistence. James Anderson then picked up his first wicket of the match as Mitchell Starc swiped to first slip, with Jonny Bairstow diving across to claim the catch.Tongue’s dismissal of Smith made it 393 for 8 – the same score on which England declared at the end of the first day at Edgbaston. And while Australia were never going to reciprocate a decision that felt like generosity as time wore on, Ollie Robinson’s double strike of No. 10 and 11 – Lyon caught in the deep; Josh Hazlewood scuffing to first slip – meant only 19 came from the final two stands.There was enough time for a four-over spell before lunch, but not one that proved particularly taxing for Zak Crawley and Duckett. And while Crawley did not join his partner in traipsing into the tea interval unbeaten, he could claim plenty of credit for the 132 added in the 26 overs of the middle session.A typically classy 48 in an opening stand of 91 took England into the 18th over before the Kent opener ran inside the line of a Lyon delivery that turned up the slope. Carey, unsighted, did superbly to take cleanly and affect the off-spinner’s fourth stumping already this series.With all the build-up centred around the robustness of the 35-year-old playing his 100th consecutive Test match, here was a cruel irony when he pulled up during the 37th over. He was haring in from the leg side fence attempting to intercept an uppish pull from Duckett played off a short ball from Cameron Green. Lyon grimaced at the end of his chase, and eventually limped off the field before being helped back to the away dressing room by Australia’s team physiotherapist.Given such a high-profile injury, both of a man just four away from 500 career dismissals and the only bowler travelling under three runs an over, the nature of the delivery was in danger of getting lost. The short ball was starting to provide a whiff of opportunity. Duckett looked a tad scratchy after shedding early nerves to reach an eighth fifty-plus score from 84 deliveries.At the time of Lyon’s injury, Duckett had moved to 87, and Pope was on 39. And as their stand eventually swelled to 97 a couple of overs later, the “smart” move was to milk the pace attack, particularly the expensive Starc who was going at close to eights. Evidently, this England team regarded it as too “old-fashioned”.Pope tried to hit Green over Old Father Time but found Smith a fair few feet under him. Duckett, having made it to 98, played his fourth and final uncontrolled hook off Hazlewood to David Warner around the corner. Root, having survived on 1 when a swipe off the same bowler caught behind was ruled out for a front-foot no ball, then completed a dismal three-peat by scuffing Starc to Smith around the corner at square leg. That catch was put under the microscope but was fine. The only thing unclean about it was the connection.England’s vice-captain, their banker of an opener on the cusp of his first Ashes century and their standout batting great, throwing away their wickets through commitment to the bit. And as Lord’s scoffed, they were thankful it was not so much worse. Brook, on 25, swiped Pat Cummins straight to square leg, only for Marnus Labuschagne to tip the ball over the bar.As much as England shot themselves in the foot, Australia deserve credit. They provided the shotgun, reloaded the bullets and played to the vanity of a punchy middle order by constantly telling them how cool they looked pulling the trigger. Short bowling is hard enough at the best of times, but it was a credit to an attack who stepped up and rallied through to the 6:30pm close. Tomorrow will ask a great deal more of them.How Brook and Stokes approach matters on Friday morning remains a mystery. They could take a page out of Smith’s book, who may have needed 169 deliveries to reach three figures, but still offered enough attacking threat, notably with a glorious drive to reach the milestone, followed by a flick through midwicket to celebrate.England, though, will no doubt approach day three with the same vim. Perhaps even more, knowing their main suppressor Lyon will not be there to stop them.

Mir Hamza and uncapped fast bowler Shahnawaz Dahani also included

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Dec-2022Pakistan have strengthened their bowling resources by adding fast bowlers Shahnawaz Dahani and Mir Hamza and offspinner Sajid Khan to their squad for the two-match Test series at home against New Zealand.Sajid has played seven Tests so far and was part of the Pakistan squad for the three-match series against Australia in March. Hamza played just a solitary Test back in 2018 against Australia, while Dahani is uncapped.Related

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The decision was taken by the Shahid Afridi-led men’s interim selection committee on Saturday.”We had a good discussion on the squad and agreed we needed to strengthen our bowling department to give ourselves the best chance of taking 20 wickets in a match,” Afridi said in a PCB media release.”I am confident the inclusion of three additional bowling resources will give Babar Azam more options to field the best available squad for the first Test.”While Sajid did not have the best of times during the Tests against Australia, returning only four wickets in three matches, he fared much better in the 2022-23 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s premier first-class competition. The offspinner picked up 21 wickets in seven first-class matches at 34.04 for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He had recorded the fourth-best figures in an innings for a Pakistan bowler in 2022, when he took 8 for 42 against Bangladesh.Hamza, too, has shown decent form in the tournament, having picked up 16 wickets in four games at an average of 24.00. Dahani played only two games for Sindh this season but has been involved with the Pakistan white-ball sides.The two-Test series against New Zealand will get underway on Monday in Karachi. Earlier on Saturday, it was announced that the second Test will be moved from Multan to Karachi because of weather concerns. The entire series now – two Tests and three ODIs – will now be staged in Karachi.

The allrounder previously represented Australia in football and scored in the 2011 quarter-final against Sweden

AAP10-Aug-2023Australia cricket superstar Ellyse Perry could easily have found herself playing alongside Sam Kerr and the other Matildas at the Women’s World Cup.An equally gifted footballer, Perry made her international debut at 16 – playing her first match for Australia against Hong Kong in 2007.The brilliant cricket allrounder made her first World Cup appearance during the 2011 tournament in Germany, scoring the Matildas’ only goal in the 3-1 quarter-final loss to Sweden.The 32-year-old earned 18 caps and scored three goals for Australia between 2007 and 2012.Related

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Primarily a defender, Perry also enjoyed a glittering career in domestic soccer playing for Central Coast Mariners, Canberra United and Sydney FC with teammates Kerr and Caitlin Foord.She competed at the International Women’s Club Championship with Sydney FC in 2013, when the squad defeated Japan’s WE League club NTV Beleza 1-0 but lost 3-2 to Chelsea.But as her sporting paths crossed, she sacrificed her soccer trajectory for the bat-and-ball game with her cricketing career exploding into superstardom from 2014.Perry went on to win eight world titles with Australia, 11 Women’s National Cricket League championships with NSW, and two Women’s Big Bash League titles with the Sydney Sixers.She is now delighted to see her former Matildas team-mates take the football world – and the Australian sporting public – by storm.”I don’t think we’ve ever really seen anything like this,” Perry said on Thursday. “The level that they’re playing at, the style that they’re playing, the amazing entertainment that they are.”Just to see what those girls have done for not only their team but for this sport and for women’s sport – it’s just been a phenomenal tournament.”Perry did not want to forget the achievements made by female athletes before the Matildas’ World Cup fever swept the nation.”There’s lots of precedent for this,” she said. “Traditionally, the Women’s Big Bash League has been the fourth most-watched sporting competition in the country – it seems a long time ago but back in 2020 we had 86,000 at the MCG.”It’s been a really steady evolution for women’s sport for a long period of time. “[General society] is shifting in line with a real push towards equality but also how much we value the incredible skill and endeavour of all of our female athletes and what they’re able to achieve.”Perry hopes the momentum around the World Cup can help the growth of domestic competitions.”We’ve got an amazing platform to be more successful and have more of a mark on the sporting landscape in Australia,” she said. “The product is there. Now it’s just about providing a platform for fans to be able to come along and have a really enjoyable time.”The next frontier for us is to make sure that we’re able to fill those stadiums.”Perry is currently recovering from a knee injury sustained last month in Ireland and meant she was withdrawn from the Hundred but is hopeful of being ready for the start of the domestic season in late September.

Vidarbha’s Aditya Thakare got 4 for 59, as India B folded for 115 in pursuit of 373

Shashank Kishore22-Sep-2024Arshdeep Singh’s first-class career-best of 6 for 40 helped deliver a consolation win for India D in the final round of the Duleep Trophy 2024-25, in Anantapur. Set 373 for victory in a little over two sessions, India B folded for 115 in just 22.2 overs, with Arshdeep and Vidarbha seamer Aditya Thakare, who got 4 for 59, picking up all ten wickets between them.Arshdeep’s strikes across both innings included the big one of Suryakumar Yadav, who only managed scores of 5 and 16 in his first first-class fixture in over a year. Left-arm seamer Arshdeep, who picked up only his second five-wicket haul in first-class cricket, finished with a match haul of 9 for 90.India B’s allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy was the only batter to offer any semblance of resistance, remaining unbeaten on 40 when Arshdeep fittingly picked up the final wicket to clinch a 257-run victory before tea on the fourth and final day.As well as Arshdeep contributed, it was batter Ricky Bhui who was named the Player of the Match. Bhui top-scored in the second innings with an unbeaten 119, going with 56 in the first, to swell the lead after India D found themselves in trouble at 18 for 3 in the second innings. Bhui, who began the day unbeaten on 90, completed his 20th first-class century quickly as India D added 59 more to their overnight 244 for 5 even as spin-bowling allrounder Saransh Jain didn’t come out to bat due to an unspecified injury.India B’s hopes of going after the target needed a stable base from the top order, but that wasn’t to be, as they quickly found themselves three down inside eight overs. Musheer Khan, who had opened the tournament with a backs-to-the-wall 181, was out for his second duck in four innings since, to end a tournament that had promised much more.Nitish, who himself hadn’t contributed as much as he would have liked with the bat, ended the tournament on a brighter note, albeit in a losing cause. He managed two wickets with the ball during the competition, where he showed the ability to bowl long spells and move the ball both ways at a brisk pace.Arshdeep aside, Saurabh Kumar, the left-arm-spinner, enjoyed a productive outing; his five-wicket haul in the first innings setting up a 67-run lead for India D. In other positives for them, Shreyas Iyer, who was leading the side, hit 50 off just 40 balls in the second innings, while Sanju Samson, the first-innings centurion, played a cameo in the second to set up a total they were able to eventually defend.For India B, Abhimanyu Easwaran was among their bright spots. Having begun the tournament with two very uncharacteristic dismissals, he bounced back with twin hundreds in his subsequent outings. However, a loss in the final game ended his side’s chances of clinching the Duleep Trophy, as India A are all but certain to gain three points from their ongoing fixture against India C.

He scored 38 more runs than England’s collective total to complete India’s 4-1 series win

Andrew Miller02-Feb-2025

Abhishek Sharma celebrates his second T20I hundred•Getty Images

India 247 for 9 (Abhishek 135, Carse 3-38) beat England 97 (Salt 55, Shami 3-25) by 150 runsAbhishek Sharma demolished records left, right and centre – and with it England’s pace-laden T20I attack – to power his way to 135 from 54 balls, the highest score ever made by an India batter in T20Is.On his watch, India romped to a massive total of 247 for 9, which would prove to be overkill in a crushing 150-run victory, and with it a 4-1 series scoreline.In response, Phil Salt reprised some of the form that had lit up last year’s IPL, to crack his way to a 21-ball fifty, but his was a lone hand in an overwhelmed England reply, as they stumbled to 97 all out in 10.3 overs.Related

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Even after his commanding display, there was no keeping Abhishek out of the game. First, he was on hand in the covers to intercept Ben Duckett’s first-ball drive and hand Mohammed Shami the first of his three wickets.And then, after Jos Buttler, Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone had each fallen in their quest to stay in touch with a rate of more than two a ball, Abhishek was tossed the ball for the ninth over, and duly bagged two more in five balls, as Brydon Carse and Jamie Overton each holed out.Abhishek tears it up
All of that, however, was somewhat superfluous to the day’s main action. The stats of Abhishek’s innings were as breathless as his strokeplay. He creamed an India-record 13 sixes (equating to almost one in four of his balls faced), all of them in the arc from point to mid-on, with the crowd at extra cover living a particularly dangerous existence.His 17-ball fifty was India’s second-fastest in the format; his 37-ball century was tucked in just behind David Miller’s 35-ball effort against Bangladesh in 2017 as the second-fastest in a contest between Full Member nations. On Abhishek’s watch, India romped to 95 for 1 in the six-over powerplay, another national record … and all this after being stuck in by Jos Buttler, too.Abhishek Sharma could not be kept out of the game•BCCI

At times, it was like watching a full-fidelity game of Stick Cricket, with Abhishek’s utter faith in the conditions, and in England’s often guileless lengths, encouraging him to plant his front foot to pace and spin alike, and launch even 150kph deliveries with impunity through the line.At the 10-over mark of the innings, the sky was the limit for India’s ambitions. Abhishek had pumped his way to 99 from 36 balls, and with 143 for 2 on the board, the first Full Member 300 was very much on the cards.To their credit, however, England found themselves a relative toe-hold, thanks in particular to Brydon Carse’s excellent three-wicket spell. Abhishek’s momentum dipped significantly after he had nudged a rare single into the covers to bring up his three figures, as he was limited to nine runs from nine balls in the next six overs.India’s onslaught could not be entirely contained, however. Abhishek reasserted himself as Carse’s final over went for 17, and though a game of cat-and-mouse with Adil Rashid resulted in a miscued wrong’un to deep cover, that wasn’t until Abhishek had connected with two more sixes back over the bowler’s head.Dube’s return to the fray
There was no shortage of needle after the events at Pune, where Harshit Rana’s controversial introduction as Shivam Dube’s concussion substitute had left England feeling rather aggrieved. Buttler’s description at the toss of England’s four unselected players as “impact subs” was an amusing commitment to the rumpus.Shivam Dube was among the wickets for India•Associated Press

The fact that Dube was back in action, just 48 hours after a heavy blow to the helmet from Overton, was further reason for England to look slightly askance at that call. But not only did Dube show no ill-effects, he underlined the fact that his own bowling – though noticeably less express than Harshit’s – was every bit as capable of making an impression.His first delivery, at the start of the eighth over, was the final death knell to England’s innings. Salt had bludgeoned 17 runs from Shami’s first over – the only moment at which England had been ahead of India’s rate – but when he snicked Dube’s 117kph sighter through to Dhruv Jurel, England were 82 for 5 and sinking fast. He then bowled Jacob Bethell with the first ball of his next over. Oh, and he also thumped 30 from 13 balls for good measure.Carse keeps his cool
Carse has had an exceptional breakthrough winter for England across formats. His thirst for the hard overs means he has already inked himself in as their go-to third seamer in Test cricket, and many of those same big-hearted traits were on show in a gruesome match situation today.Carse began his spell with India rattling along at more than 15 runs an over, having reached 127 for 1 after eight, but from the outset, his ability to hit hard lengths with canny changes of pace set him apart from the more one-dimensional block-knocking approach that his colleagues had settled for.Mark Wood and Jofra Archer set the tone for England’s approach with another deeply unsubtle powerplay display, albeit it was thrilling to behold. Archer’s first-over duel with Sanju Samson featured two sixes, 16 runs and a nasty cut to the finger from a third-ball lifter into the gloves; Wood’s follow-up barely dipped below 150kph, as Samson holed out to deep square leg – his fifth dismissal to the pull shot in as many innings this series.Suryakumar Yadav had a similar experience – once again India’s captain came a cropper to a leading edge as he finished his series with just 28 runs in five innings. But at the other end was Abhishek, and so it mattered little.

Victory sees visitors finish Rachael Heyhoe Flint campaign in fourth place

ECB Reporters Network18-Sep-2022Western Storm ended their season on a high with a narrow two-wicket victory over Thunder in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy at Emirates Old Trafford.An 81-run partnership between Danielle Gibson and Nat Wraith midway through the Storm innings looked to have proved decisive in chasing a DLS target of 239 in 48 overs after a half-century by Seren Smale and Libby Heap’s explosive 36 had helped the hosts reach 242 for 5 in 50.But Thunder hit back with late wickets to produce a tense finish before Chloe Skelton hit the winning run with 21 balls to spare.Storm’s third win means they finish fourth in the group on 15 points while Thunder end in seventh spot with six points.Storm made a good start to their innings with a 53-run partnership inside 10 overs between Emma Corney and Alex Griffiths, ended when Phoebe Graham bowled Corney for 23.Fellow opener Griffiths edged behind off Sophia Turner for 33, the first of three catches for wicketkeeper Ellie Threlkeld who also snared Fran Wilson for 28 off spinner Heap and Storm captain Sophie Luff to give the excellent Turner a second wicket and leave the visitors in a spot of difficulty on 115 for 4 in the 25th over.But Wraith and Gibson took 22 runs off a wayward 27th over from Deandra Dottin to put the run chase, delayed briefly by rain, back on course and the pair went on to produce their vital fifth-wicket stand inside nine overs.Gibson hit eight boundaries in an eye-catching innings of 56 off 40 balls with wicketkeeper Wraith providing great support with 32 off 30 before being well caught at long-on by Daisy Mullan off Laura Jackson with 43 required.Jackson bowled Niamh Holland and had Gibson caught at short fine-leg before Lauren Filer departed to Graham to set Storm nerves jangling. But in a tense finale Sophia Smale and Skelton edged their way to victory in the 45th over.Having been inserted, Thunder enjoyed a good start and a great finish to their innings to post what looked to be a challenging total.Dottin and Seren Smale combined for Thunder’s highest-ever opening partnership in three seasons of this competition to get the hosts off to the perfect start. Both batted fluently with overseas allrounder Dottin driving to good effect in making a tournament best 46 before picking out Wilson at short extra cover off Skelton with 87 runs on the board inside 20 overs.Smale, who survived a chance off Filer on 12, went on to make a career-best 57 with some clever placement exploiting gaps in the field as Thunder arrived at the halfway stage well-placed at 98 for 1.After Smale had reached her maiden half-century off 85 balls when driving Griffiths for her fifth boundary, it took a splendid one-handed return catch by Skelton to send back the Thunder opener during an excellent 10-over spell of 2 for 33.Dani Collins hit four boundaries in a steady innings of 32 – her best in List A – before top edging Filer behind midway through the 38th over. Filer trapped Laura Marshall lbw and had Mullan caught at mid-on but Threlkeld and allrounder Heap then put huge momentum into the Thunder innings with an unbroken alliance of 58 from the final 29 deliveries.Thunder skipper Threlkeld made 30 off 31 balls but Heap smashed two sixes and three fours in a stunning innings of 36 from only 18 balls to take Thunder to a total that very nearly proved to be enough.

The success of the other batters has papered over Bavuma’s failures, but he must start scoring some runs with the knockouts approaching

Firdose Moonda04-Nov-2023Temba Bavuma is confident that, with South Africa’s campaign at the World Cup entering a crucial stage, he will rediscover the touch that made him enter this tournament as South Africa’s leading run-scorer in ODI cricket this year.With 111 runs from five matches, Bavuma is the least profitable of South Africa’s top six at the World Cup at the moment, and has also scored fewer runs than their No. 7, Marco Jansen, but the form of his team-mates means he does not have to feel the pressure yet. “You always want to be making contributions,” he said in Kolkata ahead of South Africa’s meeting with India. “The other batters are smashing it at the moment, and I take comfort in the fact that I’ve been involved in some partnerships with Quinton [de Kock] up front.”Bavuma and de Kock shared a 108-run stand against Australia in Lucknow, to which Bavuma contributed 35, but none of their other partnerships has topped 38. That 35 is Bavuma’s top score. He has been dismissed by left-arm seamers twice but there isn’t much more of a pattern to his (mis)fortunes other than the obvious – he has just been finding fielders. So, while the numbers say that Bavuma is struggling, some of the shots he has played – think the twin cover drives against New Zealand just before he edged Trent Boult to slip – and the ways in which he has got out suggest that things are not as bad as they may seem and de Kock agrees.Related

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“Temba has been batting really well,” de Kock told the media on Friday. “He has looked very solid up front. He has somehow found a way to keep getting out. He is still feeling good about his own game and is very confident. Temba always backs himself, which is a good thing and a good trait to have. He is not fazed. At least I hope he is not – it doesn’t look like he is.”And 24 hours later, Bavuma confirmed that he is, indeed, unfazed. “From my side, maybe it’s just one of those patches again where I am kind of scratching, but I think I’ve got to keep that belief that the opportunity will be there for me to make a big play within the team. That’s where my head is,” he said. “I take a lot of comfort in the fact that we’ve been getting starts in that first ten overs and obviously with the guys being in form, they’ve been able to exploit that and play the way that they’ve played.”But that does not mean there is no expectation of Bavuma and de Kock has predicts that one of the next few games – and South Africa have at least three matches left – will see the best of the captain. “I got a feeling one or two of these games – especially an important game – that’s when he is going to come through for us. That’s Temba Bavuma in a package,” de Kock said.Asked whether the backing of his team-mates is a balm during tough times, Bavuma appeared at his brightest in what could have otherwise been an intimidating press engagement. “I take a lot of confidence from that. That’s something that I feel every day within the team,” he said. “And I think it’s probably due to the fact that there’s a group of batters who’ve been with each other for the last three or four years. We’ve seen each other go through the little ups and the downs and we know that all of us mentally have what it takes to get over the little challenges that we face.”Temba Bavuma has found ways to get out despite looking in good touch•Associated Press

One of those challenges would have been the pre-match press conference. There were more journalists than at any of South Africa’s other matches and one of them was direct in asking whether South Africa have faced their demons.”Have you talked about not choking in this important match?” a reporter asked Bavuma, as there was some awkward shuffling in the room.”I don’t know how to answer that,” Bavuma replied. “I think if we come unstuck tomorrow, I don’t think it’ll be a matter of choking. I doubt you would say that about India as well if they come unstuck that they would choke.”And that may have been the mic-drop. Bavuma is not a hostile or confrontational character but a soft-spoken, thoughtful and intellectual cricketer. And as this World Cup reaches the business end, he is proving to be one who has both internalised the challenges that he faces as the captain of a South African team, with all the history that comes with that role, and as an opening batter, albeit one who is due some runs.”Mentally, I’ve obviously got to keep staying there. There’s still got a lot of cricket to go within this tournament. And I believe that I’ll have a part to play somewhere within the tournament.”

Australia allrounder requested to be left out against Sunrisers Hyderabad in order to get a “mental and physical break” after a tough start to the IPL

Hemant Brar16-Apr-20242:43

Maxwell: ‘Good time to get a mental and physical break’

Glenn Maxwell has elected to take a break from the IPL to refresh himself physically and mentally after requesting Royal Challengers Bengaluru management pick someone else in his place for the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.Maxwell has been struggling for runs in IPL 2024. Before Monday’s game, he had scored only 32 runs in six innings at an average of 5.33. There were speculations that he might have sat out because of a thumb injury but that was not the case.”For me, personally, it was a pretty easy decision,” Maxwell said after RCB’s sixth defeat in seven matches. “I went to Faf [du Plessis] and the coaches after the last game and said I felt it was probably time we tried someone else. I have been in this situation in the past where you can keep playing and get yourself deeper into a hole. I think now is actually a good time for me to give myself a bit of a mental and physical break, get my body right. If I’m required to get in during the tournament, I can hopefully get back into a really solid mental and physical space where I can still have an impact.Related

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“We have had a pretty big deficiency straight after the powerplay, which has been my area of strength over the last couple of seasons. I felt like I wasn’t contributing in a positive way with the bat, and with the results and the position we find ourselves on the table, I think it’s a good time to give someone else an opportunity to show their wares, and hopefully, someone can make that spot their own.”Coming into IPL 2024, Maxwell was in red-hot form. In 17 T20s since the start of November, he had 552 runs at an average of 42.46 and a strike rate of 185.85. During this period, he scored two hundreds as well.But he started the IPL with a first-ball duck against Chennai Super Kings. Since then, he has had two more ducks and has lasted more than five balls only once – against Kolkata Knight Riders, when he made a 19-ball 28 with the help of two dropped catches.”T20 cricket can be like that sometimes – it’s a pretty fickle game,” he said. “Even if you look at the first game, I ran one off the middle of the bat to the keeper. I picked up the length really well, saw a scoring opportunity, but opened the face a little bit too much. When you are going well, that goes wide of the gloves, you get a boundary, you are 4 off 1, and you are away for the tournament.”I probably just haven’t got away – it’s as simple as that. In the first few games, I feel I made reasonably good decisions, but I was still finding ways to get out. It can happen in T20 cricket and when it snowballs like that, you can go searching and try too hard and forget the basics of the game.”The SRH game, though, turned out to be a high-scoring one. Batting first, SRH posted 287 for 3, the second-highest total in T20 cricket. RCB replied with 262 for 7, making it 549 for the match, the most for a T20.Maxwell was asked if, in hindsight, he wished he had played one more game. “I did notice during the powerplay that the pitch was not as slow and two-paced as it has been in the first few games,” he said with a smile. “And I realised it was probably a bad game to miss; it would have been nice to be out there batting.”But as I said, I wanted to give myself not just the physical break but also the mental break to give myself the right to play professional cricket. I take a lot of pride in my performance, and I put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes to get my body right for every game. And it has been a pretty tough struggle, given my body is on the wrong side of 30. I think that physical and mental toll probably just wore me down a little bit.”Maxwell had a similar IPL season in 2020 as well. Playing for Kings XI Punjab then, he managed only 108 runs in 11 innings, at an average of 15.42 and a strike rate of 101.88. He did not hit a single six that year.”That was probably a different scenario,” Maxwell said. “Back then the thing that was hurting me was I was bowling really well. So I was actually playing more as a spinner who was used at the back end [with the bat]. We had KL [Rahul] and Mayank [Agarwal] who were the two leading run-scorers in the competition at that time, so there wasn’t a lot of balls left in the game. So I wasn’t able to get any match rhythm. And when I was, it was only for a few balls here and there.”So I said the same thing to the Kings XI management back at the time, that we can have an overseas bowler in my place. But we didn’t have an offspinner as well. So I sort of played as an overseas offspinner who could bat a little bit.”The management here has been outstanding. We’ve been working together on taking a fair bit of ownership and the off-field leadership staff is trying to help out as much as they can. Unfortunately, runs just haven’t come the way they should have when you are in really good form. I don’t think I’ve had a better six months in cricket leading into this tournament. So it’s frustrating when it ends up like this. But if I can get my body and my mind right, there’s no reason I can’t finish the tournament well if I do get another opportunity.”

Uganda beat PNG for their first World Cup win but the co-hosts will present them with a much stiffer challenge at the Providence

Srinidhi Ramanujam08-Jun-20241:56

Badree: Shamar and McCoy can rattle Uganda

Match details

West Indies vs Uganda
June 8, Providence, 7.30pm local

Big picture: Uganda’s players take on their heroes

It’s strange and beautiful that Uganda’s third T20I against a Full-Member nation – they first beat Zimbabwe in Africa Qualifiers to reach the T20 World Cup and then lost to Afghanistan on their World Cup debut – is against West Indies. Irrespective of the result, Saturday will be celebrated and cherished not just in the Ugandan dressing room in Providence but also back home. Some Ugandan players’ role models are West Indians. In batter Simon Ssesazi’s words, some of them “only support West Indies in any format of the game” and it’s a “blessing” to play against them. There is so much love and admiration for the co-hosts of this World Cup – Frank Nsubuga, 43, had named his son Pollard after a certain West Indian legend.West Indies are coming into this game on the back of five successive wins and will be keen to extend that streak. Though they were given a scare by Papua New Guinea (PNG) in their opening match, West Indies eventually got home thanks to Roston Chase’s cameo in the chase.As for Uganda, they are history-makers. They are fighters. Back home, they don’t even have a floodlit facility for practice and so they are not used to playing under lights. Treading in this uncharted territory in their first World Cup appearance, where all of their four Group C matches are played under lights, they suffered a heavy defeat to Afghanistan in their opener. However, Uganda were quick to adjust to the conditions as they overcame PNG in a low-scoring thriller in their next game to secure their first victory in the World Cup.Related

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For them, facing co-hosts West Indies will be a much stiffer challenge. If Uganda have played a total of 93 T20Is so far, Nicholas Pooran alone has featured in 89 T20Is. The biggest concern for Uganda going into Saturday’s game will be their batting after they had been bowled out for 58 against Afghanistan and lost seven wickets in a chase of 78 against PNG. Can they challenge the power-packed West Indies at the Providence?

Form guide

West Indies WWWW
Uganda WLWLWMeet 43-year-old Frank Nsubuga, the oldest player in the 2024 T20 World Cup•ICC via Getty Images

In the spotlight – Roston Chase and Riazat Ali Shah

Andre Russell isn’t the only West Indian allrounder Uganda should be wary of. Roston Chase 2.0, has been in exceptional form since being recalled to the T20I side this year. In 2024, he has bowled full quota of four overs in three of the four T20Is, picking up four wickets and conceding less than six runs an over. With the bat, he has scored 37, 32*, 67*, 42* – at a strike rate of 154.78.Riazat Ali Shah, one of Uganda’s most promising talents, made a cautious 33 off 56 to steer a tricky chase after an early collapse against PNG. He has a strike rate of 122.7 in 59 T20Is and will look to find a higher tempo against West Indies.

Team news

West Indies couldn’t accommodate fast bowler Shamar Joseph and batter Shimron Hetmyer in the XI against PNG. Instead, they continued to back Romario Shepherd and Sherfane Rutherford. They might stick with the same XI against Uganda.West Indies (probable XI): 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Brandon King, 3 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4 Roston Chase, 5 Rovman Powell (capt), 6 Sherfane Rutherford, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Romario Shepherd, 9 Akeal Hosein, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Gudakesh MotieUganda made three changes for the second game from the XI that played the opener with Ronak Patel (opener), Henry Ssenyondo (left-arm spinner), and Bilal Hassan (medium pacer) sitting out. They brought in two pace options in Juma Miyagi and Kenneth Waiswa and a spin allrounder in Nsubuga. Both Miyagi and Nsubuga played key roles in Uganda’s win against PNG and are likely to retain their spots.Uganda (probable XI): 1 Roger Mukasa, 2 Simon Ssesazi (wk), 3 Robinson Obuya, 4 Riazat Ali Shah, 5 Dinesh Nakrani, 6 Alpesh Ramjani, 7 Juma Miyagi, 8 Brian Masaba (capt), 9 Kenneth Waiswa, 10 Cosmas Kyewuta, 11 Frank NsubugaRovman Powell’s West Indies will look to click into top gear against Uganda•Getty Images

Stats that matter: Pooran hot on Gayle’s heels

• Nicholas Pooran needs 25 runs to surpass Chris Gayle’s tally of 1899 and become West Indies’ highest run-getter in men’s T20Is.
• Pooran and Russell have hit 786 sixes between them in T20s since 2019.
• Uganda’s Alpesh Ramjani has 13 wickets in in six T20Is this year at an economy rate of 4.3.

Pitch and conditions: Another sluggish surface on the cards

The surface in Providence is expected to be slow, so scoring might not be easy once again. Saturday might be cloudy with temperatures hovering around 23 degrees in the evening but there is no threat of rain or thunderstorms.

Quotes

“My game was always one [where] I could always rotate the strike and turn over the strike in the middle overs. But my game has evolved where I have learned and I’ve been practising to finish the game in the back end in terms of the power-hitting and getting stronger and stuff. So, I think that’s what really helped my game to evolve. So that’s made me a better player, yes.”
“Getting our first win against PNG is a dream come true. We never thought we’d win any game and everyone was like, ‘I think they’re just going to play and just come back and sit’. But putting in that good effort against PNG on the big stage, it has been mind-blowing. Kampala is just booming since the day we won, everyone is just calling us legends. I don’t know if we’re legends but yeah, it’s exciting.”

Pakistan captain pins hopes on a women’s PSL materialising next year to help develop the team’s bench strength

S Sudarshanan31-Jul-2022Bismah Maroof, the Pakistan captain, believes that India’s batters have benefitted greatly from playing regularly in overseas leagues, something her players have not been able to do.”Indian players and batters have developed and gained confidence because of opportunities to play in the leagues, which is not the case with our players,” Maroof said after Pakistan’s eight-wicket defeat which has put them on the brink of elimination in the Commonwealth Games. “Once our players start getting more such opportunities they will develop well and get confident.”While Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh, Radha Yadav and Deepti Sharma were part of the Women’s Big Bash League in 2021-22, Harmanpreet and Pooja Vastrakar are set to be a part of the forthcoming season. Mandhana, Harmanpreet, Rodrigues, Shafali and Deepti were also part of the inaugural season of the Hundred last year with Rodrigues set to continue with Northern Supercharges for the upcoming season.Related

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On the other hand, in 2019-20, Nida Dar was the first – and till date, only – player from Pakistan to feature in the WBBL, while none of the players were involved in the Hundred. Maroof was part of the FairBreak Invitational Tournament earlier this year along with fellow Pakistan team-mates Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana and former captain Sana Mir, who has retired from international cricket.”We are playing mix-and-match [style of cricket] because that’s the requirement of the team,” Maroof said about Pakistan’s approach that is less-reliant on power-hitting. “One has to play the anchor and stay in the middle but the power-hitters whom we rely on couldn’t execute things for us. That’s an area to work on.”Maroof pinned hopes on a women’s PSL, something which PCB chair Ramiz Raja has proposed, to help Pakistan on that front. “We are expecting [the women’s PSL to be launched] next year, that is the plan. Hopefully it materialises and helps our bench strength.”Through the Women’s World Cup earlier this year, Maroof’s toddler, Fatima, was a darling for the photographers and players alike. She was often seen as being the bridge between the teams as players were gladly posing for pictures with her. Ahead of the Games, Maroof’s participation was in doubt after her daughter was denied accreditation. But the PCB fought her case and Maroof’s mother also travelled in order to take care of Fatima.”It was important for me to have her around, as I couldn’t have left her back at home,” Maroof said as she was asked if Fatima is enjoying being in the CWG Village. “Credit to PCB for fighting out the case and am very thankful to the board for granting me the permission. Whenever Fatima meets players from other team, she (also) enjoys it very much.”[It is] tough to manage. But I am keen to play and serving and leading Pakistan is an honour. I focus on getting time out for that and with my mother around, we share the task of taking care of her.”